Clarke's Healing Alliance
by ThatOneChick'98
Summary: Bellamy and the others want Clarke back, but, despite the fact that she is still taking care of them, she seems keen on staying with the Grounder clan that she has helped after a devastating plague. Bellamy tries to convince Clarke to come back, but has she healed enough to even be able to face him?
1. Chapter 1

When the Grounder came to the gate, no one knew what to do. Of course, the Sky People were in a tentative alliance with the Grounders, but it had been three months since they had had any contact with them. Ever since Lincoln had come back to Octavia, the Grounders had been nothing but silent.

And now, here comes one riding on a horse with another tied beside him. The horse that he wasn't on was laden with supplies, and since the man had no war paint on, they decided to let him in. It had been a long, hard winter with many months left to go, if there was any chance that the supplies was for them, they had to take it.

Luckily, Lincoln recognized him, and came over to clap him on the back, "Alcon! You look good! How are you?"

"I'm very good. I actually am here with some gifts for you all and to bring news to some of the Sky People."

"Who might that be?"

Alcon looked out over the crowd and found a head of brown hair, along with many other teenagers beside him, "Them," he said, pointing.

The crowd parted as the Grounder made his way over to Bellamy Blake. The boy, man rather, had his arms across his chest, looking much like he had in all the drawings. Alcon almost smiled. Almost.

"Bellamy Blake?"

"Yeah. What do you need?"

"Not what I need. What you all do," Alcon turned to where Blake was looking over his shoulder. Lincoln was looking at the supplies still tied onto the horse, "Please. Cut it down. There's enough meat in the packages to last you all for a week."

As the sound of rope cutting sliced through the air, Alcon turned back to the man he had heard so much about. He wondered what the best way to go about this was, and decided on the most direct one he could think of, "Here," he said, placing a watch into Bellamy's hand.

The moment he did it, Alcon regretted it. There was a flash of guns being drawn and clicks as safeties were turned off. The watch had done its job. It was an easily recognizable symbol.

Bellamy's hand wrapped tightly around the watch, his eyes blazing as he took in the man before him, "Where did you get this?"

"Now, don't get any wrong ideas. Clarke is safe. She just gave it to me to show you she trusted me."

"She would have never given this up," Bellamy said, taking a step closer. It wasn't until then that he realized that Alcon was about the same age as the rest of the hundred.

"She did. As a show of good faith. Look, she even gave me pictures to identify you all by."

Taking the drawings out of his back pocket, Alcon showed them to him, "Look, there's you and your sister and Raven and Wick and Monty and Jasper and Dr. Griffin and Kane. You all are all here."

Bellamy snatched the papers out of his hand, and Raven looked at them over his shoulder, "Yeah, that's definitely her drawing. I look good."

Bellamy, however, was not impressed, "You could have taken them from her. Probably off her dead body."

"Then ask me anything. Anything only she would know. Try me."

Bellamy thought hard about this. He almost wanted to just throw the man out of the camp, but something told him not to. Maybe it was instincts, maybe it was the hope that she had made it this far through winter, or maybe it was the twinkle in his eye that everyone had after getting to know Clarke, but he trusted Alcon. Perhaps foolishly, but nevertheless, there was trust.

"What did I try to give her before she left?"

"A drink."

Bellamy shifted. Alcon was right, he had tried to give Clarke a drink before she left, or at least he offered her one, but it wasn't the answer he had wanted. Perhaps Clarke had found it too personal to share, and a part of Bellamy hoped that it was.

Alcon, reading his face, reevaluated, "You tried to give her forgiveness, but she wouldn't take it."

And, like it or not, Bellamy had to let the man into camp, hoping to find out more about Clarke and how she was.

"So what have you got for us?"

Alcon smiled at him.

It was the first time that winter that they were able to eat more than a bite of meat, and, since it was a tad warmer than it usually was, they had a bonfire. Children danced, adults laughed, and, under the watchful eye of Dr. Griffin, the teenagers were allowed to break out Monty's moonshine. But, away from the main bonfire, there was another one, designated for the hundred to sit and learn what happened to their leader. Almost all of them gathered around the small flame.

"How exactly do you know Clarke?"

Alcon took a sip of his drink, before answering Octavia. He knew he had to be careful with how he talked to the girl, Clarke still didn't know if Octavia would be mad at her, and Alcon didn't want to make that anger, if it was there, more explosive. "Well, I'm her guard."

"Her guard?" Bellamy asked, "Clarke doesn't need a guard. I made sure of that."

"We did too. We taught her to fight our way, but Lexa didn't want her to ever have to use it, so she asked me to guard her. Clarke now has a security detail bigger than my commander and Lexa combined.

"Why would she need such a big one?" Raven asked.

"She doesn't. We do."

"What do you mean?"

Alcon paused, "Why don't we start at the beginning?"

"Please," Bellamy said, and others nodded their accent. The only one who didn't make a sound was Jasper.

Alcon leaned backed observed the misfit group gathered around him. They were all damaged, tired, battle hardened, and hurt, with ashes and dirt on their faces and clothes, injuries just beginning to heal, and heart that might not ever heal. They looked like Clarke. But they also looked like home.

"My clan is separate from the Woods Clan, Lexa's clan. We were going through a plague and lost our last Healer. We were losing so many people...so many.

"Among the sick was my mother and two brothers, one is ten and the other four.

"After our Healer died we got desperate, and we had heard about these...Sky People, who had medicine, who had supplies. We were planning to attack you all to get it. A last ditch effort to save our people. I'm sure you know what that feels like," Alcon said, turning from addressing the crowd to look at Bellamy.

He nodded slightly, recalling the way it felt when he had pulled the lever that killed over a thousand people. On the other side of the fire, Jasper flinched.

Alcon continued, "Then we had the blessing of blessings. The smell of corpses had brought Clarke to us. People started getting better in one of the tents that we had set up, and when we finally went to investigate...there was Clarke, bending over people trying to help out. She hadn't planned to stay long. She was just going to help some people then leave, but my commander made her an offer: If she saved our people we would save hers."

Alcon paused for a second, letting that sink in, "Even after everything she had done for you, without you all owing her anything, she was still trying to take care of you all."

Most people shifted uncomfortably.

"So she stayed, and spent days on end trying to save as many people as she could."

Alcon shook his head, "She spent all night at my mother's bedside and when she couldn't she comforted her, made her passing easy. The next day, my four year old brother was on her hip, her eyes were puffy, and she kept going."

"She took care of your family," Raven clarified.

"She took care of everyone's family."

Alcon shook his head again and laughed, "It wasn't until she collapsed that we realized she wasn't sleeping. So we started taking care of her. We made a schedule of people who would follow her around to make sure she ate and slept and took some time to herself.

"By the time the plague was gone, we had fourteen orphans who followed her around. My ten year old brother became her second, and started learning how to take care of people. She started telling kids bedtime stories of who the kids called 'Brave Bellamy' and 'Opinionated Octavia' and 'Wicked Wick' and 'Remarkable Raven'. They loved finding nicknames for you all. They're favorite was 'Jazzy Jasper'."

By this time, everyone was laughing, because, while children had given them the nicknames, they seemed utterly true.

Alcon wiped the laughing tears from his eyes before continuing, "She would tell them children versions of the stories and when the kids went to sleep she would tell the adults what really happened." Alcon looked pointedly at Octavia, "All of it. Through many tears. It. Was. Terrible."

Then Alcon, ever the storyteller, turned to a lighter topic, "But, of course, she talked about you all. She is so proud of all of you, of how much you have survived, of how much you all have grown."

Turning back to Octavia he said, "She was especially proud of you. When she talks about how you were when you first came she always smiles and starts laughing. She always tells us, 'looking at how she was then, you wouldn't believe that now she would cut you down if you ever threatened someone she loved'. She loved that about you."

Looking at Raven he said, "And you." He laughed, "She always told us that the scariest thing she ever saw in her life was you mad. She also told us that the scariest thing anyone else has seen is when you two are mad together."

Raven couldn't help but laugh, and the others agreed. Even Bellamy.

"She also told us that you were the slap in the face when she needed it. So I guess I should thank you for not letting her give up."

Raven nodded, being the first to talk in a long time, "Continue with the story."

"Ah, well, after the plague was completely gone things got better. Our commander, a ver kind, elderly woman, saw that she owed Clarke a favor and asked her what she wanted. Clarke asked for an alliance between the Sky People and the clan. So, they started writing up the treaty, but Heda had to leave to help with the reconstruction of Ton DC. When she came back she had Lexa with her, who had come to return the help that Heda had given by helping with the treaty. Throughout the day, the two worked fine together, but when the sun went down and they were supposed to go to their tents, they had a huge fight. Everyone could hear it, and it was absolutely terrible."

Alcon shivered, "It was the first time we had ever seen Clarke mad, it was the most frightening experience we had ever had, and all the kids ran away. They just kit shouting and shouting and shouting all through the night about how Lexa left her and her people, how she betrayed her, how Clarke had to kill over a thousand people because of her, how she made Clarke kill Finn, and how it was Lexa's fault that her people were suffering, that she was suffering.

"The next day they sat side by side talking amiably. Perfectly fine."

Everyone sat in stunned silence as Alcon laughed, "Those freaks. They screamed at each other throughout the night and then they were like 'okay, now we're best friends'. Everyone cracked up over that."

"Anyway, after it became obvious that Lexa would be staying for a while, Heda put her in charge of the warrior, although she was determined not to use us for a while.

"The first thing Lexa did was ask me if I wanted to guard Clarke. She made it very clear that, although Clarke is perfectly able to take care of herself, if she had to shoot a gun at someone or in any way harm another human, she would kill me.

"So, we gave Clarke a security detail, and when we asked who wanted to be a part of it, everyone signed up. Everyone loves her, and, although we know she doesn't need it, we wanted to make sure we never had to lose her.

"And now, the treaty is done, ready to be signed, and Clarke wanted you all to see it. The way it's set up is that the Sky People have a representative and the Clan has a representative and we have a representative for both camps to go to the other camp and act as an ambassador. For you all, your ambassador is Clarke and she wanted Bellamy to come as the representative. For us, our ambassador would be, if he chose to accept it, Lincoln and our representative is Heda."

"You want me to go sign a treaty I have never seen?" Bellamy asked.

"No, Clarke wants you to come and sign a treaty she has spent nearly a month and a half creating."

"Clarke's going to be there?" Raven asked, leaning forward.

"Yes, of course."

"Then I'm going," she confirmed, even though she had never been necessarily invited.

Alcon knew not to argue with her about it though. He knew that when Clarke had invited Bellamy, she had given an implied invitation to the rest the hundred.

"We're all going," Jasper said, and everyone looked at him.

"You're sure, Jasper?" Bellamy asked.

"Yes."

"Alright," Bellamy said, "Anyone who wants to come needs to be ready by first light. We're going to get our Princess."


	2. Chapter 2

If anyone told you that getting almost fourteen people up at the crack of dawn, getting supplies that is basically nonexistent, and getting permission from the council for a mid-winter mission was easy, they would be lying. But still, Bellamy managed to do it, which Alcon thought was impressive.

Alcon had followed the young man he knew so much about all night and day, which slightly intimidated Bellamy. Alcon knew almost everything about Bellamy, but Bellamy only knew that Clarke trusted him. For a while that had been enough, but having a 6'11 giant hovering over you was slightly frightening. Alcon must tower over Clarke's 5'7 frame.

"Are all of you this tall?" Bellamy asked.

"Ummm...yeah. I guess my clan is pretty tall. It pisses Clarke off. She always asks how the air is up here or if we can see the ocean.

"We can put the extra supplies on the other horse you have."

"Oh no," Alcon said, "We can all help carry it, but Clarke said the mule had a special purpose for the way back."

"And what's that?" Bellamy asked.

In reply, Alcon went over to Raven, picked her up and set her on the horse.

"Well," Raven said, "It's easier than Wick carrying me the whole way."

"Yes it is," Bellamy said, handing her up a big bag of supplies.

Alcon got up on the horse beside her, "We good? Everyone ready?"

"Yeah. Everyone take a bag of supplies on the way out."

"Bellamy!" Someone yelled, and he turned around to see Chancellor Griffin and Kane coming towards him.

The Chancellor came towards him and enveloped him in a hug he knew wasn't meant for him, "Tell her to come home. Tell her everything is okay."

Kane clapped him on the back, not saying a thing, and Bellamy wondered how many signs of affection he would get that weren't meant for him.

Raven and Alcon rode silently together with Octavia, who obviously didn't trust the Grounder, in between them.

Without Clarke, the two girls had become very close, taking from each other the comfort that Clarke used to give. Octavia putting herself in between the brunette and the Grounder showed that their relationship had grown. It made both sides of the Octavia Wall smile.

"Well. It's a long way away, so if we aren't going to talk to each other this is going to be a terrible ride."

The girls looked up at him and he continued, "The way Clarke talked about you two, you would have thought you two always had something to say."

"How much did she actually say about us?" Raven asked.

Alcon smiled, "About as much as she talked about the rest of you. She loves you all. It breaks her heart knowing that you might hate her. She has nightmares about it actually."

"Nightmares? About us?" Octavia asked.

"You all are and always will be her world. She might have expanded it to us, but you are still, very much, a part of her."

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Octavia shook her head, "That doesn't excuse her actions or her leaving."

Alcon swung his horse into the middle of the road, making Raven pull on the reins and everyone stop behind them. He glared down at the girl before him, "She did what she did to keep your brother safe, and then to keep you safe. You owe her the lives of both you and your brother. Then she left because she couldn't handle everything and they blamed her for everything. You blamed her for everything. She accepted that blame and now you are criticizing her for leaving the people that are blaming her."

Everyone was silent, but Octavia didn't shrink away.

Alcon had done something that Clarke would not have done. Openly trying to shame Octavia was dangerous, because it was sure to piss her off and make her stronger in her opinion.

"She loves you, but staying with you after what she did to protect you she would have killed herself."

Octavia took a step back, shocked at the Grounder's proclamation, and shocked at the confidence that he had made it with. For a second, she saw a flicker of herself in him.

Clarke had drawn someone who was just like the person who hated her the most closer to her. Octavia wondered what that meant for Clarke. Briefly, she even wondered if what Alcon was saying was true.

She looked up at him, the same look of protective determination that she knew was plastered on her face when someone threatened Bellamy played on Alcon's face, "Make sure you don't talk like that in front of her. If you do and she suffers for it, you will have a whole clan of people at your doorstep."

Octavia looked like she wanted to say something, but a hand fell on her shoulder, stopping her.

"She won't say anything," Bellamy said, and after a moment of silence Alcon went on. Octavia's brother turned towards her, "Be careful, okay? Clarke seems...indestructible now. Watch what you say."

"Well, you know me. Opinionated Octavia, here."

"Until we figure out just how much power Clarke has over these people keep a down low."

"You think Clarke would order my murder?"

"I don't think she would have to."


	3. Chapter 3

"So...we just...walk in?" Bellamy asked, suddenly unsure of himself.

"I mean, you could crawl in if you want to, but that'd be a little weird," Alcon said.

"I'm not used to walking into Grounder territory like this, okay?"

Alcon smiled, he did that a lot Bellamy had decided, "No ones going to shoot you. Yet."

Then he laughed and ushered his horse towards the gate.

A man was sitting guarding the large wooden fence. Bellamy thought back to the fence he had the 100 make before Camp Jaha. This was far more impressive.

"Alcon!" The man called, "I didn't realize Bellamy was more than one person."

"He's actually a village," Alcon joked back, hopping off the horse and into the light snow as Wick helped Raven off her own.

The two Grounder men enveloped each other in a hug, "Man, am I glad you're back," the unnamed Grounder said, clapping Alcon on the back.

"How is she, Chaz?" Alcon asked.

"She hurt her knee."

"How?"

"Well...we found out letting her near a cliff isn't the best idea."

All was silent for a second, then, "You let Clarke Griffin near a cliff."

Chaz lifted his hand and showed his fingers an inch apart, "Just a little one."

Alcon was silent again, "Is she okay?" Bellamy asked, finally filling the air with the question everyone was asking.

"Oh, yeah. She's just pissed because no one's really fond of her walking around right now. She refuses to let us carry her, and when she tries to go up the stairs that are cut into the side of the hill it's almost comical and depressing at the same time. She keeps telling us, 'Raven does this all the time, so I sure as hell can too, but don't tell her I said that'"

"Raven's right there," Alcon said.

"Well I didn't tell her, I told you, stupid. Keep up."

Then he turned around and swung open the heavy gate, "In ya get. She's in there somewhere."

As the twelve teenagers entered the camp, Alcon stayed behind, "How is she really?"

"She's not sleeping very well, won't eat as much as she usually does, and her knee is," Chaz shook his head, "Your brother had to preform the surgery with Lexa. Clarke was awake and walking her through it, but...I don't know if she cried more from the pain or that Menson had to see her in pain. They're even more inseparable now than before."

"Okay...thanks." Then Alcon walked towards Bellamy.

"Alcon!" Chaz called, and the Grounder turned to look at him, "Take care of her for me, will you? When you left to go get them...she started breaking. I don't know how she'll take them being here."

Alcon nodded before meeting back up with Bellamy, "You will need go see Heda first."

"Okay," Bellamy said, but anyone could see he wasn't happy about it. The twelve had already started scanning the crowd for even a glimpse of blonde, barely taking in the stone buildings around them.

They started walking toward the huge building, built with big, white rocks as the other Grounders stopped to watch them pass. The tiny boy raced through the crowd toward Alcon, and they were suddenly entwined together, talking rapidly in the Grounders' natural tongue.

"Must be one of his brothers," Raven aside side him, "He looks good considering he barely survived a plague."

The boy must have been ten, with the same light brown hair as his brother.

Raven took a deep breath, "Are we ready for this?" She asked Bellamy, looking up wt him, but Bellamy wasn't listening.

She was there. Just there. With her hair in her signature half up look, the two strands of hair holding back the rest away from her face, she looked exactly like she had before she left, except not.

She looked well fed, but a little tired, and her clothes were different. She was wearing a cape, like the rest of the Grounders, that was made of fur. She looked...great, considering how she could have looked if the Grounders hadn't taken her in.

"Bellamy," Raven said, quietly, trying to grab onto his hand before he could do anything stupid, but he was already to far gone and suddenly Clarke's tiny body was enveloped in his arms and he didn't want to let her go and she still smelled the same and her hair still tickled his nose and and. She didn't hug him back.

"Bellamy," she said in greeting when he finally let her go.

"Clarke," he said, because she was there and she was real and she was the only thing he could think of.

But her face was business like and Lexa was standing behind her and the little boy that had hugged Alcon had come to bury his head in her back and wrap his arms around her waist.

"Clarke...You look good. You look great."

She smiled softly at him, but it seemed more apologetic than anything else. She had missed him, he could see it in her eyes, but, for some reason, she wouldn't let herself show it. By now, Raven had come over and was actually smiling at Clarke, "Hey, heard you were a cripple now too."

Clarke looked down at her knee which was wrapped up into a makeshift brace. The little boy whispered something from where he was still buried in Clarke's back.

She said something, in Grounder tongue, back to him and turned back to Raven, "Yeah. Temporarily."

"Lucky bitch," Raven said, and Clarke flashed her a smile that was almost real.

The boy whispered something again and Clarke said something back. Lexa joined in to comment and Clarke laughed, a real laugh, with joy and everything.

Clarke sounded like she was encouraging the child, and after a while the boy peaked out from behind her back and Clarke carded her fingers through his hair in a soothing motion.

The boy looked up at her like he would a mother and she smiled at him.

In a sudden burst of energy, he turned back to the strange, Sky People, "Remarkable Raven."

Taken aback, Raven didn't answer for a second, then, catching her bearings, said, "Yeah. That's me."

Clarke acted as a translator, and the boy smiled at her before diggin into his pocket and showing her two pictures. One was clearly drawn by Clarke, her style and emotion bleeding off the paper. The other was crudely drawn by a child, a stick figure with scribbles on one knee and a backpack floating above the shoulders.

"Wow. These are, uh, both really good."

The boy smiled again as Clarke's words came to his ears before flying around his pseudo-mother, grabbing onto Raven's hand and dragging her towards a group of children.

"You won't see Raven for a while now," Clarke said, before looking over Bellamy's shoulder, "At least your sister has the right idea about this visit."

Bellamy turned around to see Octavia bowing respectfully to an elderly woman. Lexa spoke up for the first time, "You should join your sister, Sky Man. Clarke has to go check on her patients," then she ducked into the stone building behind them.

Clarke shifted uncomfortably, "If I walk you over there, you'll be seen as weak, and my guard will give us both a hard time about me walking anywhere."

Then she started to follow Lexa through the doorway, limping as she went.

"Clarke," Bellamy called before she got very far (not that she could get very far with that limp anyway), "We all missed you. A lot."

She nodded, before disappearing.


	4. Chapter 4

Bellamy's hand was dead. He knew it. The elderly woman's grip on it was so fierce that tears had spring up in his eyes, but she hadn't meant to cause him pain. Looking up at her face, he knew it was true. Her old smile, warn and somewhat tired, lit up her face and drew a grin on Bellamy's.

"Mr. Blake! Welcome to my village!"

"Hello, Heda," he said and she put her finger to her lips.

"Heda is my unofficial name, one I don't deserve but my people give me anyway. It's like how they call Clarke Mother or Healer. Like she represents both of those things while she is neither, I am called Heda because I represent the Heda, but I am not. Call me Gale."

"Is Gale your actual name?"

"No, but it is the best translation that you all would be able to say."

Bellamy nodded, "Well, hello, Gale."

She smiled again before turning to the other nine (Raven was still off with the kids and Wick had followed), "Come in and get warm."

Gale shouted toward the kids, waving her hands in a 'come here' motion.

Looking back over his shoulder at them, Bellamy saw that Raven was buried under a mound of children, but, at their Heda's command, they had gotten up, everyone laughing. The kids made their way toward the building that Clarke had disappeared into (the same one that Alcon had too) and Wick and Raven had joined the group of a Sky People.

"Come," Gale said in English, "Your house is this way."

Bellamy was surprised when he entered the stone building. He really shouldn't have been, but he was.

"These are all Clarke's," he said, looking at the many floor to ceiling drawings on the walls.

"Yes," Gale said, "She wanted to make you all a little more at home, so she took off some time and made these for you all."

The Sky People stared at the tiny, elderly woman in front of them, standing alone in the middle of what looked to be a living room. Everyone had told them about how much Clarke cared for them, but she had left and had not even hugged Bellamy back. And it was Bellamy. Besides the beautiful pencil pictures on the walls surrounding them, they had not seen any indication that she still loved them.

Gale smiled, a little sad, "You are tied to bad memories. Give her time and she will learn to deal with the pain."

"She seems to have no problem with the pain Lexa caused her," Octavia commented. Gale's smile became a little warped, but then it returned.

"You will have to ask her about how Lexa got her acceptance again," then she laughed and poked Bellamy in side like she had known him for forever, "You might want to take a leaf out of her book, I've heard it works wonders!"

Then she dissolved into laughter, "I'll leave you to settle in. When the drums sound, go out to the big fire to get food. You can take it in here or stay outside for the stories."

She left, leaving twelve confused Sky People in her wake.

"What did she mean when she said 'Take a leaf out of Lexa's book'?" Bellamy asked.

Octavia smirked at him, "I could give you an idea," she said.

The drums echoed through the camp, bringing shrieks and shouts as everyone ran out of their houses toward a huge bonfire. The twelve exited their house and looked at the spectacle. Children were running between adults as they talked to each other, many women and men brought out huge plates of food to set out on the long table beside the fire, dogs ran around, snatching scraps off the overflowing plates when they could, and, on the center of it all, was Clarke and Lexa, who seemed to be shadowing each other's every move.

"This is...interesting," Raven wondered.

Lincoln smiled, "This clan is known as the Peace Clan. They usually don't interact with the other clans except in times of Great War, even then, they are very quiet."

Everyone was quiet as they watched Clarke...smile.

"She found the one clan that needed her. The one that she would never have to fight again," Lincoln finished.

Bellamy thought back to the words Clarke's mother had whispered in his ears. If he brought Clarke back, she would most likely have to fight again, most likely have to lead her people, and most likely have to...well, leave here. The last one seemed obvious, but it was the one that killed him the most. Bellamy wracked his brain and could count the times he had seen her smile on one hand. Now, her smile was in abundance, that is, until she saw them.

She waved, her smile not as bright, not as genuine. But, her wave did call a very genuine response out of the Peace Clan.

Kids rushed back towards Raven, quickly drawing her away from the crowd and toward the fire. Women came, acting almost as though they had known Bellamy all their lives. They put both hands on the sides of his face and placed a kiss on each cheek, doing the same for every male in the Sky People before hugging the girls.

Clarke's smile got brighter as she watched him be smothered with the kisses of strangers.

She laughed at his shocked face before she was drawn into a conversation with Lexa and Gale.

The Sky People were drawn closer to the fire where Raven and Wick were, once again, trapped under pile of kids.

Clarke, Lexa, and Gale talked in rapid Grounder tongue, Clarke trying to grasped every word she could. The three girls burst into laughter as Fale seemed to recount a story. Bellamy had a feeling it was about what had happened in the house this morning.

"Octavia," Bellamy called to her and his sister appeared at his side, "I think Lincoln should probably start teaching us the Grounder language."

She blinked up at him, "Learning a new language gets harder as you grow up. By the time we left we would only know a few phrases."

"That would be more helpful than being completely in the blind about what they're saying."

"I'll ask him about it," Octavia said before disappearing.

"Your hair is longer," Bellamy said, tugging on a lock of long, blonde hair.

"Is it?" Clarke asked, turning around to face him.

Bellamy nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah. It's almost to your lower back now."

Clarke nodded and all was quiet for a while, before Bellamy broke it, "I'm sorry."

The Grounder/Sky Woman looked confused, "For what?"

He shrugged, "Whatever I did."

"Why do you think you did something?"

"Why are you so distant?" Bellamy asked. He was aware that a few men were watching them. The large men that had stayed near Clarke all night now came closer, possibly because of his slightly raised voice.

Clarke stayed still for a second, her stoic mask slightly falling.

She started to walk away and Bellamy grabbed onto her arm. Not hard. His fingers barely whispered over her wrist, but it was enough to set off her guard.

They rushed toward him and Clarke immediately flung her free arm into the air. The men stopped, a protective glint in their eye.

But, Clarke wasn't going to let them hurt Bellamy, or, at least, that was what he hoped.

"Clarke...I just want to understand," he whispered. He knew most people were listening to him, the only sound was the beating of the drums and Lexa's steps coming towards them.

"I can't help you understand something that I don't know myself," then she ripped herself from his grip and went to Lexa. The talking started again, leaving Bellamy in the dust.


	5. Chapter 5

Bellamy knew how to get to her. Of course, he did. He had known her since they had landed, watched her work, listened to her talk and give orders. He knew what would get her attention, what would get them alone, where she was comfortable. He could do it and be with her, alone, for as long as he needed. If he could do it.

He looked down at the switchblade in his hand, glinting in the fire. One fake, wrong move would send him straight to Clarke. He knew it.

It was just the matter of...doing it.

Since Mt. Weather, he had been very peculiar about wounds. He couldn't look at them, deal with them, or even hear about them.

Hearing about Clarke's knee had made him queasy (although he wasn't entirely sure it was just the wound making him feel that way, it could have been the fact that Clarke had been hurt). Regardless, this, cutting himself, seemed like a necessary equal.

He had to see Clarke.

He had to take her face in his hands and make sure she was okay.

He had to look into her eyes and still see something that was...well, Clarke.

He had to talk to her, really, really talk to her.

And it would take one movement, one movement that looked fake, but wasn't.

So, with the switchblade in his hand, he sat down next to Raven and Wick (both had a child on their laps, a view that Bellamy had already become accustomed to).

He watched the children interact with the couple, flicking the blade in and out of its case. The small child on Raven's lap, who couldn't have been more than two, turned around and grabbed the brunette's face, making her smile. It had been a long time since Bellamy had seen Raven grin, and it was, at the same time, pleasing and troubling to see. Raven and Wick would not easily leave, not after they had grown close to these kids.

Still flicking the switchblade, he looked out over the meadow to see Octavia running around with the other kids. He watched as she ran around, playing the monster that the many children were running away from. She was just another person that Bellamy would have to tear away from the village.

"You look troubled," Raven said. The child on her lap, not even knowing what she was saying, looked at Bellamy.

"I'm always troubled. I'm in charge."

"Have you talked to Clarke?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I-OW!" The switchblade cut through the skin of his wrist and blood started to gush out.

Raven and Wick swung into action, taking the children off their laps and pulling him towards Clarke's building.

"Clarke!" they yelled, but the only person who came to greet them was Lexa, who stood at the top of the stairs looking vexed almost to tears.

"What do you want?" she said through gritted teeth.

"Clarke," Raven replied evenly (Lexa had once tried to kill her, she was glad that the Grounder was mad), "Bellamy cut himself. Looks like it may need stitches."

"Clarke is...preoccupied. Her second is down there. He will take care of you." Then she disappeared through a doorway, slamming the door behind her.

This was not going as Bellamy had planned.

The ten year old boy came out, smiling reassuringly at Bellamy before pointing to the chair inside the next room, "Brave Bellamy."

Bellamy and the others learned that since the young boy's mother had died, he rarely talked to anyone besides Clarke and Alcon. Not that he could understand them if he tried. His way of communicating how he felt about a person was what he called them; he gave nicknames that he thought described how he saw them, Brave Bellamy, Opinionated Octavia, they were all names this young boy gave them. He had other nicknames, not so kind nicknames, Stupid Sten, Mad Manovin. They all had their name behind some adjective, but some, the very special people, the boy didn't use their name. Clarke was no longer Courageous Clarke, she was Mom. It made the boy...endearing and Bellamy liked the boy for it (and not just because the boy was tied to Clarke, but easier to get to).

Bellamy followed the boy into the room and Wick and Raven came in with them. Over in the corner, wearing a mask of menace, stood a guard, carefully observing them. Up overhead, a fight, that must have been going on before they came here, ensued.

They couldn't hear what it was about, but they knew it was between Clarke and Lexa.

The guard took advantage of the boy's ignorance of the language and said, "You all are more trouble than you're worth."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked as the boy set down to his task, ignoring the shouting.

"Ever since you came you all have undone the work Clarke took three months to make. Now, you all have moved on from just tearing apart her to tearing apart her family."

"Look, we didn't ask to come."

"I know. That's the sad part. Even, when you don't mean to, you hurt her."

The fighting continued on.

When the boy was halfway through, the shouting moved to the stairs and was followed by the slam of a door. No one inside the room moved as Clarke let out an anguished scream that could be heard through the closed door.

The boy went back to his work, but the others stood there holding their breath.

After a minute or two, Clarke came into the room. Her hair was out of its regular hair style and she was running her hand through it when she came in the door.

She smiled softly at Wick and Raven, who smiled back, not knowing what to do or say. Clarke neared the working boy and laid her hands on his shaking shoulders. It was just now that Bellamy realized tears were leaking out of the corner of his eyes.

Clarke said something to him and he relinquished the needle to her before wrapping his arms around her waist. He dug his head into her back, wiping away his tears on her shirt.

"You okay?" Bellamy asked.

Clarke looked at him before quickly finishing the work her second had started, "No."

It was a simple proclamation, but it spoke volumes to just how broken the girl in front of him was. The guard shifted, glaring at the Sky People as they wondered how they could help. They decided that the best way to help was to not try to help and stayed quiet.

Bellamy would talk to Clarke some other time.

In fact, he already had a plan brewing in the back of his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Bellamy knew she would be pissed, but it was the only time that she was alone, so he took his chance and started through the forest.

"Where are you going?" Octavia asked, looking up from the kids.

"For a walk."

"Towards the stream?" She raised her eyebrows at him, "I'll keep it quiet."

"I appreciate it."

"She never made up with Lexa," Octavia told him.

"Why would that matter?" Bellamy asked, confused.

Clarke had arguments all the time (mostly with him, but that was normal.

"Bellamy..." Octavia thought he was an idiot, he could tell. She didn't want to explain this to him, but she had to, otherwise he would do something stupid and push Clarke straight off a cliff, "What Heda said they first day we were here? You haven't figured it out?"

"I haven't really had a lot of time to think about it Octavia, so please tell me before Clarke comes back."

Raven walked towards them.

"Clarke and Lexa...what Lexa did to get back on Clarke's good side...how they were always by eachother's side...they were together Bellamy. There were rumors when you were in the Mountain that...the alliance between the Grounders and us would be even stronger in a while, it wasn't until we came here that I realized those were true."

"Octavia, what are you saying."

Raven took control, "Clarke and Lexa were gay for each other."

"Yeah, there you go," Octavia said, scratching her head awkwardly.

"WHAT?!" Bellamy roared.

Raven continued, "When they had that big fight, the thing that Heda said you could do to get on Clarke's good side, the thing that Lexa did, it was having sex. That's what Lexa did after the fight."

"They are a couple?"

"Were a couple," Octavia corrected.

"Yes, it seems that they had another argument that didn't end up the way the other one did," Raven said.

There was an awkward pause.

"Soooo...yeah, Clarke's now single." Raven said smiling at him.

"She's also gay."

"BI, Bellamy. BI as in BISEXUAL," Octavia said.

"Look at it this way: she's not very picky about who's in bed with her." Raven said

"Which is good. I mean, look at you." Bellamy's sister waved her hand in his direction.

"So now..." Bellamy paused, "You want me to be either her."

Raven and Octavia looked at him for a minute, then at each other.

"Jesus, bro," Octavia said, "You're hopeless!"

"Hey! You're the one who doesn't like Clarke!" Bellamy protested.

"Well, yeah! Certainly not as much as you do!"

"WHAT?!"

Raven slammed her hand onto her forehead, "Okay, he's obviously blown a gasket. Class dissmissed for today."

"Bell, just go see Clarke," Octavia said, waving him off.

"Are you bi?" Bellamy asked as an opening. It was already going to be an awkward talk, might as well start it off awkwardly.

"Jesus, Bellamy!" Clarke said, pushing herself further into the creek, "Really?" She screamed.

"I just want to know."

"Bellamy, I'm NAKED! Leave!"

"Are you bi?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"Were you with Lexa?"

"Bellamy, LEAVE!"

"Not until I get my answers."

"Honestly? Just wait 'til I get to the village."

"No."

"Bellamy. I'm standing in the middle of a stream naked, and you want to talk NOW?!"

"I've waited long enough," he said.

She choked on the words he had so mercilessly spat out of his mouth, "Oh?"

"You owe me that much," Bellamy said, "You left and I want answers."

She looked at him, more vulnerable than she had ever been before in front of him. If he looked hard enough (even though she knew he wouldn't) he would be able to see her, not that he didn't see everything about her, in her, already.

"Yeah, I was with Lexa."

"Did you all breakup?"

"Yeah."

"Because of us coming?"

He didn't need an answer, her silence was enough.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's mine for being weak."

Bellamy paused, "Weak because we came?"

She nodded, "You all made me weak. You all are destroying me."

It was different. He had heard it before from the others, her guards, even Heda, but hearing her say it was a stab to the heart.

Clarke shook her head, "I was almost better."

Bellamy thought for a second, "Maybe...maybe if it took so little to break you again...maybe you were trying to heal yourself the wrong way."

She looked at him, so he continued, "Maybe what you were doing was like...putting a small bandage over a bullet wound. It helps for a while, but in the end..."

"It's inadequate to heal the wound." Clarke finished.

"Maybe you ran away from the procedure that would actually heal you because it would hurt. Like Raven with her surgery. It hurt like hell and left her with a couple of scars, but in the end it healed her. Maybe when you left us, you were running away from your surgery."

"Maybe."

"I think you should try the surgery."

"If it goes wrong, it will kill me."

Bellamy thought back to the Delinquents, the ones here and the ones waiting anxiously at home for her to return.

"Your in good hands. We've got the best surgeons in the world."

Clarke stood there in the creek for a second.

"It may cause pain in the beginning, but it will fix you, Clarke. Let's do the surgery. Come home with us after the treaty is signed."

"...Okay."


	7. Chapter 7

"Just stay calm," Bellamy said beside her.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. You've gotten this far, just step in."

"No. Not today. I have things to do and-"

"If you don't do it now you won't ever do it."

"But-"

"Just step in."

"No."

"Why?"

"It feels like trespassing."

"I gave you permission."

"Maybe we should leave it here today," Alcon said, shifting his weight behind them, although the scene before him was pretty comical.

Clarke's hands were braced in the doorframe, taking up all of the space. Bellamy was trying to coarse her through the door, but she wasn't going to budge, a fearful look on her face.

"No, she needs to do this now. Come here, Clarke."

"No."

"Yes."

"He doesn't want me here."

"You're right, but you both need this."

"I don't know."

"Clarke! Come in here! Now!"

The woman stepped just barely through the door.

Progress, Alcon thought.

Bellamy grabbed onto Clarke's hand and Alcon had to stop from attacking him. Clarke trusted this man, but that didn't mean Alcon did. Not necessarily.

"You're doing great," Bellamy said to her, "Come in a little bit more."

"I can't."

Octavia neared Alcon, a kid on her hip, "What's going on?"

"Bellamy thinks he's a doctor."

Octavia watched as Clarke stepped one more foot into the room, "Looks like she needs a push."

"By all means, go for it."

Octavia...well, bulldozed Clarke into the room, pushing her in with a strong hand on her back, "There. Hard part is done. Don't thank me, I don't need it."

Alcon leaned close to the young Blake's ear whispering, "We're not even close to the hard part."

Bellamy clasped Clarke's forearms so she wouldn't run and yelled for someone, the word ringing through the air.

"Is he insane?!" Octavia whisper-shouted.

"Probably," Alcon answered, "He called it 'Operation Ripping Off the Bandaid'."

"Yes, well, the actual name for it is 'Clarke's Death Sentence'."

Footsteps sounded down the stairs and Jasper stopped when he saw the four people in the front hall, "Uh. Hi."

Clarke seemed to settle down a little bit, "If you want me to leave, I will, but we need to talk."

There was an awkward silence for a long time before Jasper nodded, "Yeah, we do. Let's go in the living room."

Bellamy moved towards the room, but a Jasper butted in, "Not you. Just Clarke and I."

Bellamy turned towards him, "Okay," then let the two go.

Later on, the other Sky People walked in, amazed to see Clarke's gaurd waiting outside the living room door and Jasper and Clarke laying on the couch, asleep, with red cheeks from crying.


	8. Chapter 8

Octavia was the first to make Clarke smile, which Bellamy found a little surprising. He was not sure what had happened to the girls, but he was perfectly okay with them laughing together.

Later on, he found out that Octavia had come to Clarke's house in the middle of the night, seeking help for a little boy, who was still just getting over the plague. He had developed a fever during the night, and had woken up Octavia, complaining of a stomach ache.

"They both stayed up with him," Raven had told Bellamy, "I don't think they yelled at each other or anything, they just decided to bury the hatchet."

"Let's hope a storm doesn't come and bring the hatchet back up," Bellamy said.

"Let's hope."

Bellamy crossed his arms and stared at her for a second, "What about you? Buried anything lately?"

Raven looked over her shoulder at the blonde, who was talking to Heda, "Maybe later."

"Holding onto a grudge for very long is dangerous. And hard to do."

Raven looked down at her feet then back up, "Yeah, well...forgiving her is harder."

"Don't miss your chance to forgive her, that's all I have to say. You might loose her completely."

Raven studied him for a second, "I'm guessing you haven't told her?"

"No."

Raven frowned, "Soon then. Or you might miss your chance."

Bellamy frowned, nodding, and Raven turned to look back at Clarke, "She looks better. Happier almost. I was beginning to think your therapy sessions wouldn't work, but...Alcon even said she was sleeping better. Even more than she did when Lexa slept next to her."

"Yeah. At first it was hard, but..."

"The surgery worked?" Raven teased.

"How do you know about that?"

"Because you all keep talking about surgery when you're together. It makes sense to compare it to her position, her knowing medicine and all. Everyone just figured it out."

"Everyone?" Bellamy asked, feeling like he had given something of him and Clarke away.

Raven nodded, leaning closer to her, "Everyone also knows there's only one way to make her fully healed. You know what that is! don't you?"

"...Yeah. I know."

"You all are making good time, but at this rate...get it done before we leave."

"Clarke? Can I talk to you?" Bellamy asked, and Clarke nodded at him.

She and Alcon made their way over to him, and Bellamy frowned, "Alone?" he asked.

Alcon shifted a little, and Clarke turned to him, "It's not like he's going to hurt me or anything."

The man nodded, backing away, and Bellamy led Clarke behind a house so that they were away from the fire.

"Everything okay?" she asked, and Bellamy ran his hand through his hair, "I don't even know where to start."

"Maybe at the beginning?" Clarke suggested.

Bellamy shifted, then nodded, "When you left...everything went wrong."

"Bellamy..." she started, but he shook his head, "You have to let me talk. You just listen."

So, Clarke leaned against the house, waiting for him to father himself.

"When you left...I started doing everything wrong. I knew how to lead just fine, just...not without you. For the first week, I was utterly aware that you were gone, but...I caught myself about to tell the kids to go find you. Then, as I came to terms with it...I tried to replace you, I even tried bandaging wounds, all the things you would do, but after a while...I realized that people didn't want me to be you, that it only made you leaving harder for them. So I stopped, realizing I couldn't fill the hole that you left."

He ran his hand through his hair and looked down at his feet, "After you left and I stopped trying to be you...I realized that there was a huge void, not only in the kids, but in me as well, something that I couldn't fill...that only you could fill."

He heard Clarke gasp, but he didn't look up, "I-uh...I realized that I needed you that I..."

He looked up at her, and she nodded, understanding. Understanding what he meant, what he couldn't say something, WHY he couldn't say it.

He moved towards her, slowly, letting her stop him if she wanted to. But, she didn't. She sat there calmly against the wall, giving him a small smile as her got closer and closer, til his arms wrapped around her waist, "Is this okay?"

She nodded and their lips met briefly before sealing together.

Minutes passed, hours passed, but Bellamy didn't care. He had Clarke in his arms, something he had wanted since...he didn't know when. Honestly, he didn't know anything, but Clarke let out a contented sigh and he was okay with that, he was okay with a blank mind for the first time in his life.

"I have to thank Octavia for talking to Raven," Clarke said against his cheek as they leaned against the wall together.

"WHAT?!" he asked, looking at her.

"Well, we both agreed that you needed a push, and I couldn't do it and your sister couldn't do it, but Raven? She can."

"You three are diabolical, you know that?"

"We embrace it," Clarke declared, smiling.


	9. Chapter 9

AU NOTE: LAST CHAPTER!

"You can come with us if you want," Bwllamy said, as the two left Heda's house, the alliance rearranged so that Clarke didn't have to do anything. She hadn't wanted to do anything to begin with, but Bellamy couldn't help but notice that Clarke was now free to go a she pleased.

"I know, I just..." The woman shook her head and Bellamy nodded.

"Just think about it, okay?" he asked, placing his hand under her chin so that she was forced to look at him.

"I-I will. I will think about it."

Clarke?" Raven asked, pulling her to the side. She had been in the middle of a large group of Grounders, but Raven had managed to get her hand in between them and pull her out.

Clarke smiled shyly at the girl before me, and Raven had to admit she looked a lot better.

The girl had just needed a dose of Bellamy to bring herself right.

"I-uh, I heard you were thinking about coming back," now the brunette was selfconscious, digging her toe into the dirt and not looking at her.

"Yeah. I am. Would you be okay with that?" the blonde asked her.

Raven looked up, surprised that Clarke would even ask, "That was...why I came to you...I don't want you to not come back because of me. I realize we aren't on EXACTLY the best of terms, but that shouldn't stop you from coming back."

Clarke's heart soared, "Thank you, Raven that means a lot."

"And...I...forgive you...for what happened...for Finn."

Clarke looked at her, tears in her eyes, "That means even more."

Everyone stood by the gate, saying the last goodbyes to the kids around them. Raven was in tears, wanting to kiss every child she could get to and Wick was just the same. One child, the baby of them all, the one that had CONSTANTLY been on Raven's lap, wouldn't let go of her hair, grasping onto anything he could get of her, trying not to let go.

Heda stood by Clarke, talking to her, when the two approached the Sky Couple.

"That baby has no family," Heda said to Raven and Wick, "But it would seem like a crime to take her away from the only people she has known as parents."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked as Wick smiled.

Clarke answered for Heda, "The people here have already started to call the baby Gejinoson, which is what the people call a baby raven. Names are usually given to the baby's by the people and usually the people call it something that refers to the mother or father. Like Alcon, his mother' snake also started with 'Al'. In the eyes of the people, that baby is already yours."

The couple was speechless.

"You basically have legal rights over her, in their culture. You can do with her what you want, so long as it doesn't harm the child." Clarke explained further.

"We can keep her? Bring her back with us?"

"Anything other than that would be called abandonment by the people," Heda told her.

The couple was stunned, so Clarke prodded them, "Take the kid."

So, Raven climbed onto the horse with her new daughter in he lap. Wick looked up at her, "You sure about this? Are we ready to have a kid?"

Raven smiled at him, "I thought you were the loose one," she said, and her boyfriend grinned at her, "We're ready for anything." the girl continued.

Bellamy stood in front of Clarke, the other's holding their breath behind him. Everyone knew what he was going to ask.

"Will you go home with us, Clarke?"

Clarke bit the inside of her cheek and looked back over the mass of people behind her. The people that brought her in, helped her, loved her. She looked back at her Second and Alcon. She didn't want to leave them.

"I-I ca-" Clarke was interrupted as Alcon and the boy rushed forward.

"She can," Alcon said, throwing his arm over his psuedo-sister's shoulder, "And we can too."

"What?" Clarke asked, surprised.

"We're going with you," Alcon said, "The people still want you to have a guard and this little man still needs his training. If we have to deal with sleeping on steel, so be it."

So they left with many tears and hugs, but in the end, Clarke left, loving enveloped in a crowd of Sky People as they made their way through the gates.


End file.
